Interferon-[alpha] (INF-[alpha]) is used as an adjuvant treatment for high-risk cutaneous melanoma. It has a large variety of potentially severe and irreversible side effects and can contribute toward the development of autoimmune disease. We report a case of a 59-year-old woman who developed type 1 diabetes following the use of low-dose IFN-[alpha] for the adjuvant treatment of stage IIB melanoma. Fifteen months after initiating IFN-[alpha], she presented with blood glucose of 1126 mg/dl, hyponatremia, and microalbuminuria. Antibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase and islet antigen-2 were negative and C-peptide was markedly reduced. There was no personal or family history of any autoimmune conditions. Reinforced insulin treatment and volume substitution with saline and glucose as a counter-regulation was started. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of low-dose IFN-[alpha]-induced type 1 diabetes. Clinicians should closely evaluate the pros and cons of IFN-[alpha] treatment in an adjuvant setting and remain mindful of the possibility of drug-induced autoimmune disease. Copyright (C) 2017 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Πέμπτη 20 Ιουλίου 2017
Behind the smile: qualitative study of caregivers anguish and management responses while caring for someone living with heart failure
Background
Caregivers support self-management in heart failure but often experience stress, anxiety and ill health as a result of providing care.
Aims1. To identify the factors that contribute to the experience of anguish.
2. To understand how caregivers learn to live with what is frequently a challenging and demanding role.
MethodsIndividual interviews with caregivers who had been caring for someone with heart failure for a minimum of 6 months. We used thematic analysis to inductively analyse transcripts.
ResultsTwenty-two caregivers, from three centres in the United Kingdom, took part in individual interviews. The caregivers were aged between 39 and 84 years, and six were men. Twenty were in spousal or partner relationships. We found that caregivers often hide the extent of their emotional stress or anguish. We identified four main themes with explanatory subthemes—emotional impact (fear for the future and sense of hopelessness), role definition (changing sense of who I am, reduced resilience, learning care skills, role conflict and changing role), exclusion (exclusion by the cared-for person and by health professionals and feeling alone) and ignoring one's own health—that were associated with anguish. From these findings, we produced a caregiver needs assessment model in the context of caring for a person with heart failure.
Conclusions and implications for practiceCaregivers have many unmet and hidden needs. Primary care health professionals are well placed to meet the needs of caregivers. The model may be used by health and social care professionals to identify needs and to provide caregivers with targeted practical and emotional support; and for researchers developing interventions to enhance self-management in heart failure.
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Differences in gadolinium retention after repeated injections of macrocyclic MR contrast agents to rats
Purpose
To compare the levels of gadolinium in the blood, cerebrum, cerebellum, liver, femur, kidneys, and skin after multiple exposure of rats to the macrocyclic gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) gadoterate, gadobutrol, and gadoteridol.
Materials and Methods
Fifty male Wistar Han rats were randomized to three exposure groups (n = 15 per group) and one control group (n = 5). Animals in the exposure groups received a total of 20 GBCA administrations (four administrations per week for 5 consecutive weeks) at a dose of 0.6 mmol/kg bodyweight. After a 28-day recovery period animals were sacrificed and the blood and tissues harvested for determination of gadolinium (Gd) levels. Gd determination was performed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS).
Results
After 28 days' recovery no Gd was found in the blood, liver, or skin of any animal in any group. Significantly lower levels of Gd were noted with gadoteridol compared to gadoterate and gadobutrol in the cerebellum (0.150 ± 0.022 vs. 0.292 ± 0.057 and 0.287 ± 0.056 nmol/g, respectively; P < 0.001), cerebrum (0.116 ± 0.036 vs. 0.250 ± 0.032 and 0.263 ± 0.045 nmol/g, respectively; P < 0.001), and kidneys (25 ± 13 vs. 139 ± 88 [P < 0.01] and 204 ± 109 [P < 0.001], respectively). Higher levels of Gd were noted in the femur (7.48 ± 1.37 vs. 5.69 ± 1.75 and 8.60 ± 2.04 nmol/g, respectively) with significantly less Gd determined for gadoterate than for gadobutrol (P < 0.001) and gadoteridol (P < 0.05).
Conclusion
Differences exist between macrocyclic agents in terms of their propensity to accumulate in tissues. The observed differences in Gd concentration point to differences in GBCA washout rates in this setting and in this experimental model, with gadoteridol being the GBCA that is most efficiently removed from both cerebral and renal tissues.
Level of Evidence: 2
Technical Efficacy: Stage 5
J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2017.
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Editorial Board and Contents
Source:Trends in Cell Biology, Volume 27, Issue 8
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Semi-Supervised Speech Activity Detection with an Application to Automatic Speaker Verification
Source:Computer Speech & Language
Author(s): Alexey Sholokhov, Md Sahidullah, Tomi Kinnunen
We propose a simple speech activity detector (SAD) based on recording-specific Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM) of speech and non-speech frames. We extend the conventional expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm for GMM training using semi-supervised learning. It provides a methodology to incorporate unlabeled data into the SAD training process, leading to more accurate statistical models by exploiting the structure of data distribution. It fits naturally to off-line applications that may require partial human assistance, or applications that involve processing large quantities of audio data, such as text-independent speaker verification, speaker diarization or audio surveillance. The proposed SAD does not require any off-line training data as supervised SADs do. Rather, it employs initial labels produced from a tiny fraction of a given audio recording with the help of another simpler SAD (or a human operator). The proposed SAD is analyzed for the different covariance types, the initialization methods for speech and non-speech class, the amount of labeled data required for initialization, and the speech features. In experiments with a stand-alone SAD system, we observe increased accuracy on the challenging dataset from the recent NIST OpenSAD evaluation. Our extensive automatic speaker verification (ASV) experiments, including text-independent experiments with NIST 2010 speaker recognition evaluation (SRE) data and text-dependent experiments with RSR2015 and RedDots corpora, show benefits of the new approach for the long speech segments containing non-stationary noise. For the shorter data conditions in the text-dependent experiments, simpler unsupervised SADs perform however better. Further, we study the impact of SAD misses and false alarms to ASV performance on the NIST 2010 SRE data. By deriving an empirical cost function with the two SAD errors, we have observed that ASV error rate reaches a minimum value around the same SAD operating point irrespective of SAD method and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The optimum ASV performance occurs approximately at an SAD operating region where falsely included non-speech is considered 4 to 5 times more costly than missed speech. Importantly, the proposed semi-supervised SAD is relatively less dependent on the SAD decision threshold compared to the other contrastive SAD methods.
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RankUp: Enhancing Graph-Based Keyphrase Extraction Methods with Error-feedback Propagation
Source:Computer Speech & Language
Author(s): Gerardo Figueroa, Po-Chi Chen, Yi-Shin Chen
In recent years, unsupervised, graph-based ranking algorithms have been successfully applied to keyphrase extraction tasks. These methods have the advantage of taking into account global information, such as text structure and relations between words, phrases, and sentences, rather than relying solely on local, vertex-specific information. Graph-based approaches for keyphrase extraction, however, have a particular drawback, which comes from their frequency-based analysis methods. The weakness is that many common, less relevant terms may get a higher ranking, particularly in short articles. The converse situation also occurs, where less common (and possibly more relevant) terms obtain lower rankings. We propose an unsupervised method—RankUp—that enhances graph-based keyphrase extraction approaches by applying an error-feedback mechanism similar to the concept of backpropagation. Experiments have been performed on almost 3,300 short texts from a variety of domains. Our experiments show that error-feedback propagation can boost the quality of keyphrases in graph-based keyphrase extraction techniques.
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Electrochemical Degradation of Nonylphenol Ethoxylate-7 (NP 7 EO) Using a DiaClean® Cell Equipped with Boron-Doped Diamond Electrodes (BDD)
Abstract
Nowadays, the increasing pollution of natural water effluents with surfactant, wetting, dispersing, and emulsifying agents which contain nonylphenol ethoxylate (NP7EO) is an emerging problem that has not received the enough attention. Currently, it is known that degrading this type of highly stable compounds is possible through advanced electrochemical oxidation (AEO), but the degradation of NP7EO has not been tested yet. Thus, this work carries out a study of the degradation of the NP7EO (500 mg L−1) through advanced electrochemical oxidation, using a DiaClean® cell, equipped with boron-doped diamond electrodes (BDD, 70 cm2). The cell operated in a recirculation system with a peristaltic pump, which allowed to control the electrolyte flow. The buffer media for degradation was NH4OH 0.1 M/HCl 0.05 M (pH 9.25). The effect of the current density (j = 20, 30, 40 mA cm−2) was studied, and the cell efficiency for each condition was evaluated. The degradation was followed by total organic carbon (TOC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and absorbance. The cell potential was monitored to determine the operating costs. The best conditions for the mineralization of NP7EO (initial concentration = 500 mg L−1) were applying 40 mA cm−2 and at a flow rate of 12.6 L min−1 during 8 h of electrolysis, achieving a 90% of TOC removal. Therefore, this technology appears as a promising alternative for degrading surfactants like NP7EO in aqueous media.
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As and Cd Sorption on Selected Si-Rich Substances
Abstract
The processes of pollutant sorption by soil components control their mobility, migration, and transformation in the soil-plant system and depend on numerous properties, among which the elemental composition and surface area are dominant. In a laboratory experiment, the sorption of As and Cd by Si-rich substances differing in surface area, solubility of Si, and mineralogical composition was studied. The adsorption data were fitted to the linear, logarithmic, exponential, Langmuir, and Freundlich equations. Both size of the particles and mineral solubility of Si affected the As and Cd sorption. In the systems with lower initial concentrations of As and Cd, size of the particles had more pronounced effect on the sorption capacity. In the systems with high initial concentrations of As and Cd, the concentration of monosilicic acid was more significant than the surface area.
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Synthesis and Reactivity of Iron– and Cobalt–Dinitrogen Complexes Bearing PSiP-Type Pincer Ligands toward Nitrogen Fixation
Abstract
Invited for the cover of this issue is the Nishibayashi group, University of Tokyo, collaborating with the Iwasawa group, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. The cover image shows the transformation of molecular dinitrogen into silylamine as ammonia equivalent, catalyzed by Fe– and Co–dinitrogen complexes bearing PSiP-type pincer ligands.
Fe– and Co–dinitrogen complexes bearing PSiP-type pincer ligands are found to work effectively as catalysts for the formation of silylamine from molecular dinitrogen under ambient reaction conditions…
Read more about the story behind the cover in the Cover Profile and about the research itself on page -- ff (http://ift.tt/2vqzRzd).
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Switchable Dielectric Constant in the Cyanometalate-Based Hydrogen-Bonded [(CH3)2NH2]2(H3O)[Co(CN)6] Framework
Abstract
Invited for the cover of this issue is the group of Wen Zhang from Southeast University, Nanjing, China. The cover image shows host–guest type organic–inorganic frameworks that have switchable dielectric constants.
Dielectric switching in a hydrogen-bonded host–guest framework is the most important result…
Read more about the story behind the cover in the Cover Profile and about the research itself on page -- ff (http://ift.tt/2gOOCJ5).
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Front Cover: Synthesis and Reactivity of Iron– and Cobalt–Dinitrogen Complexes Bearing PSiP-Type Pincer Ligands toward Nitrogen Fixation (Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. /2017)
The cover picture shows the newly designed iron– and cobalt–dinitrogen complexes bearing PSiP-type pincer ligands, which work as effective catalysts for the transformation of molecular dinitrogen into silylamine as ammonia equivalent under ambient reaction conditions. We believe that these results contribute to the further development of the catalytic transformation of molecular dinitrogen with transition metal dinitrogen complexes as catalysts under mild reaction conditions. Details are discussed in the article by Y. Nishibayashi et al. on page -- ff (http://ift.tt/2vqzRzd). For more on the story behind the cover research, see the Cover Profile (http://ift.tt/2gPecgT).
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Front Cover: Switchable Dielectric Constant in the Cyanometalate-Based Hydrogen-Bonded [(CH3)2NH2]2(H3O)[Co(CN)6] Framework (Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. /2017)
The cover picture shows the distinct dielectric transitions in typical host–guest organic–inorganic frameworks. The changes in the motions of the confined guests in the host frameworks are responsible for the thermally driven switchable dielectric constant. The background is one of spectacular natural scenery, seas of clouds, on the Yellow Mountains, one of the most famous mountainous areas in China and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1990. Details are discussed in the Communication by W. Zhang et al. on page -- ff (http://ift.tt/2gOOCJ5). For more on the story behind the cover research, see the Cover Profile (http://ift.tt/2vpM6vT).
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Concurrent Chondrodysplasia Punctata Type 2 (Conradi–Hunermann–Happle Syndrome) and Ichthyosis Vulgaris in Teenaged Twin Girls
Abstract
We present concurrent X-linked chondrodysplasia punctata and ichthyosis vulgaris in adolescent fraternal twin girls, notable for initial presentation with dry skin in adolescence, characterized by dark-brown scale typical of ichthyosis vulgaris and blaschkolinear, atrophic, scaly plaques. This constellation of findings prompted further genetic investigation. Using a multigene approach to examine 39 genes associated with congenital ichthyosis, next-generation sequencing revealed a novel heterozygous missense mutation at a mutational hotspot in the EBP gene c.439C>T (p.R147C) in conjunction with a single nonsense mutation in the FLG gene (p.R501X) in both sisters. These individuals highlight the clinical variability of Conradi–Hunermann–Happle syndrome, illustrate the possibility of co-occurrence of rare and common forms of ichthyosis, and demonstrate the utility of multigene analysis.
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Methotrexate for Severe Childhood Atopic Dermatitis: Clinical Experience in a Tertiary Center
Abstract
Background/Objectives
Atopic dermatitis (AD) affects up to 20% of children. Although the majority of patients are adequately controlled using emollients, topical corticosteroids, topical calcineurin inhibitors, or phototherapy, children with moderate to severe AD may require systemic treatment for control. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of methotrexate in children with severe AD attending a tertiary referral center.
Methods
A retrospective chart review was undertaken of all children who received methotrexate for severe AD at our tertiary referral center from November 2010 to August 2015.
Results
Forty-seven children were started on methotrexate for AD during this period. The mean Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) at the 3- to 5-month follow-up improved from 4.25 to 2.8, with further improvement to 1.9 in the patients that continued therapy beyond 10 months. Changes in the Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) mirrored changes in the IGA, with improvement in the mean CDLQI from 14.4 at the start of the treatment to 7.5 at the 3- to 5-month follow-up. Further improvement in the CDLQI to 6.6 in patients who continued methotrexate beyond 10 months confirmed continued improvement in disease control beyond medium-term therapy. The treatment was well tolerated.
Conclusions
Methotrexate appears to be an effective, safe treatment for severe pediatric AD. Its therapeutic effects continue beyond the medium-term treatment period, as reflected by further improvement in IGA and CDLQI scores in patients who continued methotrexate therapy beyond 10 months.
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Concurrent electrical cervicomedullary stimulation and cervical transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation results in a stimulus interaction
Abstract
Transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation (tsDCS) can modulate neuronal excitability within the human spinal cord; however few studies have used tsDCS at a cervical level. This study aimed to further characterise cervical tsDCS by observing its acute effects on motor responses to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and cervicomedullary stimulation. In both Study 1 and 2, participants (Study 1: n = 8, 4F; Study 2: n = 8, 3F) received two periods of 10 min, 3 mA cervical tsDCS on the same day through electrodes placed in an anterior-posterior configuration over the neck; one period with the cathode posterior (c-tsDCS) and the other with the anode posterior (a-tsDCS). In Study 1, electrically-elicited cervicomedullary motor evoked potentials (eCMEPs) and TMS-elicited motor evoked potentials (MEPs) were measured in biceps brachii and flexor carpi radialis (FCR) before, during and after each tsDCS period. In Study 2, eCMEPs and magnetically-elicited CMEPs (mCMEPs) were measured before, during and after each tsDCS period. For Study 3, computational modelling was used to observe possible interactions of cervical tsDCS and electrical cervicomedullary stimulation. Study 1 and 2 revealed that eCMEPs were larger during c-tsDCS and smaller during a-tsDCS compared to those elicited when tsDCS was off (P < 0.05), with no changes in MEPs or mCMEPs. Modelling revealed that eCMEP changes may result from modifications of electrical field direction and magnitude when combined with cervical tsDCS. Bidirectional eCMEP changes are likely caused by an interaction between cervical tsDCS and electrical cervicomedullary stimulation, thus care should be taken when combining such electrical stimuli in close proximity.
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved
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Autoimmunity and its association with regulatory T cells and B cell subsets in patients with common variable immunodeficiency
Publication date: Available online 20 July 2017
Source:Allergologia et Immunopathologia
Author(s): G. Azizi, H. Abolhassani, F. Kiaee, N. Tavakolinia, H. Rafiemanesh, R. Yazdani, SA. Mahdaviani, S. Mohammadikhajehdehi, M. Tavakol, V. Ziaee, B. Negahdari, J. Mohammadi, A. Mirshafiey, A. Aghamohammadi
BackgroundCommon variable immunodeficiency (CVID) is one of the most prevalent symptomatic primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs), which manifests a wide clinical variability such as autoimmunity, as well as T cell and B cell abnormalities.MethodsA total of 72 patients with CVID were enrolled in this study. Patients were evaluated for clinical manifestations and classified according to the presence or absence of autoimmune disease. We measured regulatory T cells (Tregs) and B-cell subsets using flow cytometry, as well as specific antibody response (SAR) to pneumococcal vaccine, autoantibodies and anti-IgA in patients.ResultsTwenty-nine patients (40.3%) have shown at least one autoimmune manifestation. Autoimmune cytopenias and autoimmune gastrointestinal diseases were the most common. A significant association was detected between autoimmunity and presence of hepatomegaly and splenomegaly. Among CVID patients, 38.5% and 79.3% presented a defect in Tregs and switched memory B-cells, respectively, whereas 69.0% presented CD21low B cell expansion. Among patients with a defect in Treg, switched memory and CD21low B cell, the frequency of autoimmunity was 80.0%, 52.2% and 55.0%, respectively. A negative correlation was observed between the frequency of Tregs and CD21low B cell population. 82.2% of patients had a defective SAR which was associated with the lack of autoantibodies.ConclusionsAutoimmunity may be the first clinical manifestation of CVID, thus routine screening of immunoglobulins is suggested for patients with autoimmunity. Lack of SAR in CVID is associated with the lack of specific autoantibodies in patients with autoimmunity. It is suggested that physicians use alternative diagnostic procedures.
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New Genes Causing Hereditary Parkinson’s Disease or Parkinsonism
Abstract
Purpose of Review
This article reviews was to review genes where putative or confirmed pathogenic mutations causing Parkinson's disease or Parkinsonism have been identified since 2012, and summarizes the clinical and pathological picture of the associated disease subtypes.
Recent Findings
Newly reported genes for dominant Parkinson's disease are DNAJC13, CHCHD2, and TMEM230. However, the evidence for a disease-causing role is not conclusive, and further genetic and functional studies are warranted. RIC3 mutations have been reported from one family but not yet encountered in other patients. New genes for autosomal recessive disease include SYNJ1, DNAJC6, VPS13C, and PTRHD1. Deletions of a region on chromosome 22 (22q11.2del) are also associated with early-onset PD, but the mode of inheritance and the underlying causative gene remain unclear. PODXL mutations were reported in autosomal recessive PD, but their roles remain to be confirmed. Mutations in RAB39B cause an X-linked Parkinsonian disorder.
Summary
Mutations in the new dominant PD genes have generally been found in medium- to late-onset Parkinson's disease. Many mutations in the new recessive and X-chromosomal genes cause severe atypical juvenile Parkinsonism, but less devastating mutations in these genes may cause PD.
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The Effects of Biogeography and Biotic Interactions on Lemur Community Assembly
Abstract
Geographic patterns of biodiversity result from broad-scale biogeographic and present-day ecological processes. The aim of this study was to investigate the relative importance of biogeographic history and ecology driving patterns of diversity in modern primate communities in Madagascar. I collected data on endemic lemur species co-occurrence from range maps and survey literature for 100 communities in protected areas. I quantified and compared taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional dimensions of intra- and intersite diversity. I tested environmental and geographic predictors of diversity and endemism. I calculated deforestation rates within protected areas between the years 2000 and 2014, and tested if diversity is related to forest cover and loss. I found the phylogenetic structure of lemur communities could be explained primarily by remotely sensed plant productivity, supporting the hypothesis that there was ecological differentiation among ecoregions, while functional-trait disparity was not strongly related to environment. Taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity also increased with increasing topographic heterogeneity. Beta diversity was explained by both differences in ecology among localities and potential river barriers. Approximately 3000 km2 were deforested in protected areas since the year 2000, threatening the most diverse communities (up to 31%/park). The strong positive association of plant productivity and topographic heterogeneity with lemur diversity indicates that high productivity, rugged landscapes support greater diversity. Both ecology and river barriers influenced lemur community ecology and biogeography. These results underscore the need for focused conservation efforts to slow the loss of irreplaceable evolutionary and ecological diversity.
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Highly Polymorphic Microsatellite Markers for the Assessment of Male Reproductive Skew and Genetic Variation in Critically Endangered Crested Macaques ( Macaca nigra )
Abstract
Genetic analyses based on noninvasively collected samples have become an important tool for evolutionary biology and conservation. Crested macaques (Macaca nigra), endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia, are important for our understanding of primate evolution as Sulawesi macaques represent an exceptional example of primate adaptive radiation. Crested macaques are also Critically Endangered. However, to date we know very little about their genetics. The aim of our study was to find and validate microsatellite markers useful for evolutionary, conservation, and other genetic studies on wild crested macaques. Using fecal samples of 176 wild macaques living in the Tangkoko Reserve, Sulawesi, we identified 12 polymorphic microsatellite loci through cross-species polymerase chain reaction amplification with later modification of some of these primers. We tested their suitability by investigating and exploring patterns of paternity, observed heterozygosity, and evidence for inbreeding. We assigned paternity to 63 of 65 infants with high confidence. Among cases with solved paternity, we found no evidence of extragroup paternity and natal breeding. We found a relatively steep male reproductive skew B index of 0.330 ± 0.267; mean ± SD) and mean alpha paternity of 65% per year with large variation across groups and years (29–100%). Finally, we detected an excess in observed heterozygosity and no evidence of inbreeding across our three study groups, with an observed heterozygosity of 0.766 ± 0.059 and expected heterozygosity of 0.708 ± 0.059, and an inbreeding coefficient of −0.082 ± 0.035. Our results indicate that the selected markers are useful for genetic studies on wild crested macaques, and possibly also on other Sulawesi and closely related macaques. They further suggest that the Tangkoko population of crested macaques is still genetically variable despite its small size, isolation, and the species' reproductive patterns. This gives us hope that other endangered primate species living in small, isolated populations may also retain a healthy gene pool, at least in the short term.
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Environmental impact of coal mining and coal seam gas production on surface water quality in the Sydney basin, Australia
Abstract
The extraction of coal and coal seam gas (CSG) will generate produced water that, if not adequately treated, will pollute surface and groundwater systems. In Australia, the discharge of produced water from coal mining and related activities is regulated by the state environment agency through a pollution licence. This licence sets the discharge limits for a range of analytes to protect the environment into which the produced water is discharged. This study reports on the impact of produced water from coal mine activities located within or discharging into high conservation environments, such as National Parks, in the outer region of Sydney, Australia. The water samples upstream and downstream from the discharge points from six mines were taken, and 110 parameters were tested. The results were assessed against a water quality index (WQI) which accounts for pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, total dissolved solids, total phosphorus, nitrate nitrogen and E .coli. The water quality assessment based on the trace metal contents against various national maximum admissible concentration (MAC) and their corresponding environmental impacts was also included in the study which also established a base value of water quality for further study. The study revealed that impacted water downstream of the mine discharge points contained higher metal content than the upstream reference locations. In many cases, the downstream water was above the Australia and New Zealand Environment Conservation Council and international water quality guidelines for freshwater stream. The major outliers to the guidelines were aluminium (Al), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn). The WQI of surface water at and downstream of the discharge point was lower when compared to upstream or reference conditions in the majority of cases. Toxicology indices of metals present in industrial discharges were used as an additional tool to assess water quality, and the newly proposed environmental water quality index (EWQI) lead to better trend in the impact of coal and coal seam gas mining activities on surface water quality when compared to the upstream reference water samples. Metal content limits were based on the impact points assigned by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, USA. For environmental and health impact assessment, the approach used in this study can be applied as a model to provide a basis to assess the anthropogenic contribution from the industrial and mining activities on the environment.
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Journal de Pharmacie Clinique
Alexandros Sfakianakis
Anapafseos 5 . Agios Nikolaos
Crete.Greece.72100
2841026182
Anapafseos 5 . Agios Nikolaos
Crete.Greece.72100
2841026182
6948891480
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